Thursday, April 05, 2012

This week is almost over. As Easter gets closer, I've been surprised by how little I see to remind me of this holiday. In the Philippines Easter is HUGE and you are constantly reminded of the crucifixion and ascension. Here I've seen a few Easter candies, but otherwise no mention of this amazing celebration. 

God Himself conquered death. We live because He both died and rose. We live and breath and have our being in Him who is all and in all. He is the only source of hope, the only hope of abundant life. And as believers, we live in the reality that He is enough-- all our hopes fulfilled beyond our greatest imaginations, our hope for eternity and the strength and grace to live today. Truly, we should be celebrating this weekend! 

We continue to stay busy here in Arizona, and are making plans to return to the Philippines at the end of the month. The boys are studying hard and Garry is working hard. I'm cooking plenty and teaching some and enjoying catching up with friends. 

The other day I made my coffee and poured my half and half in (a real treat after mostly putting skim milk in my coffee for a couple of years), only to realized it was spoiled! My milk was also sour. And I am in the USA! I was telling my mom how my day had started and she asked me if I'd checked the date on the milk. I had, but I well remember when I realized what those dates were. It took me a while. But this milk was nearly a week from expired, and it was definitely sour. Life just isn't perfect. We live in a fallen world, after all, where milk spoils and bread gets stale.

4 comments:

us5 said...

i'm still rather shocked how very important Holy Week is here in the Philippines. it's good Friday today, and there's an absolute hush on the city...everything is closed in observance.

our daughters were down your way last week! they went to CGO on a service trip, and passed through Malaybalay. :)

Java with the Johnsons said...

it's soo quiet here this weekend...enjoying it sooo much! spending time enjoying our kiddos... miss you guys!

Garry and Cynthia Barkman said...

Yes, us5, Holy Week in the Philippines amazes me every year. It just makes me so incredibly sad to see people beating themselves and otherwise tormenting their body for forgiveness of sin.

What did they think of our little town? Would have been fun to be there and meet them:). They must have had a long, bumpy ride knowing how all those roads are!

god bless...

Garry and Cynthia Barkman said...

Java lady,

so glad you enjoyed your quiet week! enjoyed the photos of Asia doing ballet. Too cute! It is such a blessing to have a "natural" time to spend extra time with our kids! They are a blessing!

Miss you guys too... have a good week!